The Other Side of the Rift
by Foxbear
Summary: One Jupiter, 97 children, one rogue alien Robot, and more mysteries than one newly minted captain can count.


"Captain Robinson?" Vijay's uncertain voice pulled Judy up with a start and she gave the boy a tired smile.

"So what does that make you?" She asked. "First officer?"

"Well," he seemed surprised but nodded. "I suppose if we're going by age – but that's not what I wanted to talk to you about!"

Judy frowned and stood from where she had been trying to catch a few winks of sleep in the pilot's chair of the Jupiter 8. It had taken awhile to get the frightened children calmed down and she had to admit they had Vijay to thank for that. His idea to form them into squads 'just like how John Robinson would have in the Seals!' of four each had been genius. One of the oldest children looked after three younger than them going down three or four years a head. Judy understood the science behind it. Age formed a natural chain of command. The chain of command offered stability and comfort, no one would get overlooked. But it had been Vijay who had thought it up and organized it. Now the little groups were all sleeping fitfully around the Jupiter while the older 'officers' tried to come up with a plan.

Judy freely admitted that she owed Vijay a lot. But she didn't like the tone of voice he'd used. It smelled far too much like yet another problem.

"What did you want to talk about?" She asked, trying very hard not to sound suspicious.

"It's," Vijay chewed his bottom lip uneasily. "It's kind of a Robinson thing."

Judy arched an eyebrow wryly at him and he flushed.

"I mean," he stammered. "Can you all get up here where we can discuss something, ah, privately?"

Judy nodded and reached for the intercom before frowning and walking to the door instead.

"Penny," she called softly to her sister. "Could you please go tell Will I need him?"

Penny glanced up from where she was tucking in the youngest of her three charges and raised a finger to her lips with a frown. But she nodded and slipped down the corridor to where Will had holed up with his three in his room. Judy sat back down in her chair and a few minutes later wasn't surprised to see the blue face of Robot round the corner with Will and Penny.

"What do you need?" Will asked softly.

"Vijay has a question for the Robinsons," Judy replied in a murmur.

Six eyes and one swirling faceplate turned on Vijay and the young man squirmed under the scrutiny but he straightened his back and looked straight at Will.

"Look," he said softy. "Please don't think I'm attacking or blaming you. I think we all know you had to have had a very good reason for lying about it back on the Resolute-"

"Lying about what?" Will demanded his face scrunching in confusion.

Both of his sisters hissed at him to lower his voice even as they glared at Vijay.

"I mean it's not like the crew gave you much reason to trust them," Vijay when on in a quick whisper. "And I totally see why you didn't want to trust them. But out here it's just us and we need to trust each other. So, I just think you should tell us everything."

"Will?" Penny was looking at her brother with perplexity but she was clearly listening to Vijay.

Judy was glancing thoughtfully between everyone. Robot was either completely nonplused by the confrontation or simply too tired from the jump and the torture he'd received to work up a response. Judy made a mental note to grill Robot about his health. Before anyone could raise their voices again she raised a hand and they all looked at her.

"Vijay," she said, putting as much humor as she could manage into her voice. "Please put a few more nouns in that sentence, because, I assure you, Will has no idea what you're talking about."

Vijay flushed and glanced down at the floor but the mood in the room lightened with Penny choking back a laugh.

"Well," he said. "I just think we need every one who can fly a Jupiter to admit they know how, especially because, you know," he waved his hand at the mysterious planet below them.

"I said I was going to learn," Will said with a frown. "What are you talking about?"

Vijay was looking at him with wondering skepticism in his face now.

"Will," he said, "who got the Jupiter 2 back to the Resolute?"

"Your dad," Will said rolling his eyes. "He is a certified pilot."

"Yes," Vijay pressed. "But how did he get to the Jupiter 2?"

"He walked up the ramp," Will let a touch of sarcasm into his voice and Judy say Vijay flush with anger.

"Will," Penny suddenly interjected with a frown, even as she rested her hand on top of Vijay's. "I think he means, I mean, wasn't the whole problem that the ring was like miles from where the rest of the colonists were?"

"Oh!" Will's eyes brightened and he nodded in understanding. "That wasn't me. That was just the Jupiter."

"What do you mean, 'just the Jupiter' Will?" Judy asked.

She noted that Robot had perked up at the response as well. His display was swirling faster now. Will shrugged and glanced between her and Vijay.

"I guess Adler set the autopilot to take me to the landing site before he-" Will's voice cut off and the four humans glanced at the ground in pained silence for a moment.

Robot stiffened even further and greens began to mix with the blues on his face.

"No." Robot said softly, startling them out of their silence.

"What?" Will asked craning around to look up at Robot.

"Robot's right Will," Vijay said. "The Jupiter 2 doesn't have that kind of autopilot."

"What do you mean?" Will protested. "It lands and takes off-"

"Yeah," Vijay nodded vigorously. "That is exactly what it does. The autopilot function has exactly two functions. Get you to the ground in one piece, and get you into orbit. I mean you could reprogram it but that would take like hours of coding. There's no way Adler had time."

"Well I didn't fly the Jupiter to the colonists," Will insisted, "maybe Adler's just really, really good at that stuff."

"No," Robot cut in again, resting a hand on Will's shoulder. "Friend."

"We're not arguing," Will said with a sigh, reaching up to pat Robot's hand. "We're all friends here."

"Will," Judy said staring at the sudden, tiny orange flecking to Robot's face. "I think he means Scarecrow."

Robot glanced at her and pulsed his faceplate once in confirmation. Will glanced between them with a curious frown.

"But he wasn't on the Jupiter with me," Will said.

"Come to think of it he had to have gotten back on the Resolute somehow," Judy said. "He wasn't with the main bunch when they got trapped."

"As far as we know the Jupiter 2 and only one other alien ship came up" Vijay pointed out. "I mean Dad would have noticed if Scarecrow were in the Jupiter but, I don't know, could he have like, hacked the controls from the outside?"

They all glanced over at Robot. He pulsed his face in agreement and Judy groaned and rubbed her face.

"Great," she muttered. "At least two robots know how to hack a Jupiter without ever getting on board."

"They won't misuse that knowledge," Will protested.

"But if they figured it out so can the others," Judy pointed out.

"Yes," Robot agreed his face flickering red for a moment.

They pondered this a moment before Vijay stood up and held his hand out to Will.

"Sorry for calling you a liar," he offered.

"It's cool," Will assured him. "It is kinda weird. I should have noticed it. I gotta get back to my kids."

"Well," Judy said with a smile. "Dismissed then."

The three younger humans filtered out of the room discussing their various charges in low tones and Judy slumped back in her chair. She didn't notice Robot had stayed until he was kneeling in front of her his face swirling with blues just touched with red.

"Can I help you?" Judy asked, smiling up at him weakly.

He reached out one hand and rested it on her shoulder. She glanced at it and then back at his face curiously. He seemed to be bracing himself for an effort.

"Others," he finally said, stumbling hard over the 'th' sound. "No, danger."

He leaned back a bit and tilted his head almost expectantly.

"We're not in danger from the other robots," she hazarded.

He pulsed his face in confirmation and she felt her face twist into a slightly bitter smile.

"How can you promise us that?" she asked in a harsh whisper.

Robot stared at her a moment and then stepped back and up, and up, with a soft susurration of metal plates he unfolded into the six limbed warrior that had come to stand for so much destruction to her. Judy caught her breath, feeling a strange mix of terror and awe. They really were beautiful. Robot knelt down in this form and took one of her hands in three of his, laying the fourth like a gleaming metal lily pod in her palm. He spread his three fingers out and she watched in fascination as his palm lit with a fierce red glow. She could feel the heat from below but it didn't burn her. She glanced back up at his face and caught her breath, his display was a burning red hour glass, shedding light like flames.

"Others," he said again. "No danger."

Judy grinned fiercely as she understood the offer of all the protection he could give.

"Thank you." She whispered.

There was a murmur of metal as he folded back down to his more comforting bipedal form and his face shifted back to the blues she had become accustomed to. He made as if to go but stopped and turned back.

"Thank you." He said softly.

Judy stared at him blankly, and he returned her look with a complex star map of blues and whites. She suddenly felt the weight of how much they couldn't communicate with this friend their lives depended on and could only watch him turn and go, wondering what on Earth he had to thank her for.


End file.
